What is Number Bond – The Simple Guide for Grade 1 Addition

If you have kids in 1st grade (elementary school), you might heard them said they’re doing math number bonds in school. Or sometimes they started learning it in Kindergarten 2. They might told you about the three circles of number bond, or the long rectangle block thing, or the word “whole” and “part“. So what is number bond, in simple words?

What is Number Bond in Math?

Number bond is a representation on how numbers can join together to make a bigger number, or how a number can be broken down into smaller numbers.

Number bond is usually presented by one circle having two adjoining lines connected to two more circles. The first circle will be called the “whole”, and will have the biggest number among the three. While the other two circles will be the “part”.

Sometimes, number bond can also be drawn as a long rectangle block, splitted into two, which each shorter block will be the “part”, and the whole block will be called, well, “whole”.

As you can see from the example above, you can then say “2 and 3 make 5” and “3 and 4 make 7”. What does that statement lead to? Yep. ADDITION. So, this is number bond.

What is Whole and Part in Number Bond?

The basic concept; a whole is made up from smaller parts. Similarly, parts joined together will be a whole.

So the “whole” in number bond, would be the biggest number among the three numbers involved.

The other two smaller numbers will be the two “part”.

Sometimes they’ll write it as “W” for the whole, and “P” for the parts.

What is this number bond for?

This helps children to understand how they can split a number into smaller “parts”.

When they join, i.e. add-up, all the parts, it becomes the bigger number.

When they break down a number and take away one part, i.e. substract, it will have the other part left.

Number Bond Manipulatives – Learn Visually

What can you use to visualise a number bond?

You can use practically anything small and countable, preferably in similar sizes.

Here are some ideas:

1. I love to use our mathlink cubes (the ones you see from the previous images) to represent the number bond. This will simulate the blocks model of number bond. And with the actual action of assembling the blocks, I think it can represent better the idea of breaking down a number and joining numbers.

2. We also used three disposable plates (to represent the “whole” and two “parts”) and small objects. Here my daughter used her colorful counters.

3. You can also use popsicle sticks to represent the number, by lining them up vertically side by side.

This is also useful when your kids are taught to draw figure sticks at school to do their counting. Popsicle sticks is the closest real object to resemble the figure sticks.

Next: Here comes the equation

By practising with the blocks or counters on how we can break down a number, these are the two points we want to emphasize to our kids:

1. Two numbers – the PARTs- can be joined together, to make a bigger number – the WHOLE.

2. A (bigger) number can be broken down into two smaller numbers – the PARTs.

With this concept in mind, we’ll learn how to write the addition equation based on the number bond.

Math By Age

If you have kids in 1st grade (elementary school), you might heard them said they’re doing math number bonds in school. Or sometimes they started learning it in Kindergarten 2. They might told you about the three circles of number bond, or the long rectangle block thing, or the word “whole” and “part“. So what is number bond, in simple words? What is Number Bond

Math Materials

More ideas on counting games for preschool kids! Today we’re using , number cards, color cards, clothespin, and a paper plate, to learn counting and grouping by colors. If you haven’t read my previous counting activities, you might want to go take a look at this post when we used popsicle sticks, or this one with wooden dominos, or this one with counting chips.